Tax bands and rates – dividends
Currently, when a dividend is paid to an individual, it is subject to different tax rates compared to other income due to a 10% notional tax credit being added to the dividend. So for an individual who has dividend income which falls into the basic rate band the effective tax rate is nil as the 10% tax credit covers the 10% tax liability. For higher rate and additional rate taxpayers, the effective tax rates on a dividend receipt are 25% and 30.6% respectively.
To determine which tax band dividends fall into, dividends are treated as the last type of income to be taxed.
From 6 April 2016:
- the 10% dividend tax credit is abolished with the result that the cash dividend received will be the gross amount potentially subject to tax
- a new Dividend Tax Allowance charges the first £5,000 of dividends received in a tax year at 0%
- for dividends above £5,000, new rates of tax on dividend income will be 7.5% for basic rate taxpayers, 32.5% for higher rate taxpayers and 38.1% for additional rate taxpayers.